The holidays can be an especially difficult time for those grieving the loss of a loved one. James H. Davis Funeral Home and Crematory is honoring those losses with Luminary Lights of Remembrance.

At 5 p.m. on December 15, approximately 300 luminaries will light the front lawn of the funeral home. Inside, a short memorial service will be held, featuring a memorial video and refreshments for the families they served in 2017. They’ll do the same at Cecil Funeral Home in Whitesville the following evening.

The service started four years ago when the business put nearly 500 paper luminaries on the front lawn to honor those who passed that year.

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“It was something to see,” said John Hill, vice president of the funeral home. “There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the stars were out,” he said. “One family who had lost their mother sat out on the sidewalk for an hour and a half. If it had all been for just those four, it would still be worth it.”

This year the paper luminaries are being replaced with glass ones, featuring a photo of the person represented.

“People will be able to walk through and maybe see other people where they’ll think ‘I knew them,’ or ‘that was my neighbor,'” he said. “They may see people other than the person they’re there for and remember them also.”

Hill said he wanted to do something to let the families they served through the year know they were being thought of, but he didn’t want to ask them to come back into the funeral home – a place painful for many to return.

“It’s a sad time, but it’s not like what they left the last time,” he said, adding that he hopes the candles bring hope to the darkness.

“It’s good for people to get together and see that others are in the same boat,” Hill said.